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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25320259">Just One Dance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bossxtweed/pseuds/bossxtweed'>bossxtweed</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other, i'm sleep deprived but think this is mostly fluff????, missy audio dramas, missy audio spoilers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:20:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,406</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25320259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bossxtweed/pseuds/bossxtweed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Lumiat, out for a day on the beach, runs into the Valeyard.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thoschei - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Just One Dance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She rather </span>
  <em>
    <span>liked </span>
  </em>
  <span>the Doctor, with her short blonde hair and rainbow ensemble, and so she patterned herself to </span>
  <em>
    <span>match </span>
  </em>
  <span>should they ever meet, although they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>far </span>
  </em>
  <span>too similar in temperament now, weren’t they? The Lumiat had become to the Master what the Valeyard was to the Doctor, and she rather fancied herself a </span>
  <em>
    <span>good person; </span>
  </em>
  <span>after all, she tried her hardest to always act with kindness, grace, and above all else, </span>
  <em>
    <span>love.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Standing in front of a mirror, she twirled around and giggled. She had finally gone somewhere </span>
  <em>
    <span>warm </span>
  </em>
  <span>and was delighting in wearing a strapless, floral print dress, blue with bright sunflowers. Maybe </span>
  <em>
    <span>tomorrow </span>
  </em>
  <span>she would wear a vest and nice slacks.</span>
</p><p><span>Confidently, she walked out of her ship and onto a vast, sprawling beach, with a purple sky over crystalline water, and she inhaled. Salt. Warmth. </span><em><span>Oh, </span></em><span>how much </span><b><em>fun</em></b> <span>she would have here, building a sandcastle, helping the turtles (who here have </span><em><span>orange </span></em><span>shells, something to do with the planet’s atmosphere), and </span><em><span>maybe </span></em><span>she could even go sunbathing! </span></p><p>
  <span>At a shift in the air, she turned round and squinted at the person before her, dressed in all back and covered from neck to ankle, and she smiled brightly in recognition. “Ah! Vale-y! How are ya?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He squinted and took a cautious step forward. “You----you’re---”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reading his thoughts, she reached out and fondly tapped a finger against his nose. “Yes! Go by ‘Lumiat,’ now. Nice, innit?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He frowned, looking her over. This time, it seemed, </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>had a slight advantage in height over her, and though she could easily scrounge up a pair of heels to beat him, they would </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>go well with her sundress and hat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>c’mon! </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’m </span>
  <b>
    <em>sure </em>
  </b>
  <span>you’ve always wondered what it would be like, seeing </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>like </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>while </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re </span>
  </em>
  <span>like </span>
  <em>
    <span>that. </span>
  </em>
  <span>We’ve always been counterbalanced, haven’t we? Ever since the Academy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A bemused smirk crept onto his face. “You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>good? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ha. Think of what they’d say back home!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She returned his smirk with a genuine smile of her own. “Dunno. Maybe that’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally </span>
  </em>
  <span>be the thing to bring ol’ Rassilon to his knees, eh? Course, shoving those </span>
  <em>
    <span>white point stars </span>
  </em>
  <span>down his throat sufficed to do </span>
  <b>
    <em>more </em>
  </b>
  <span>than simply bring him to his knees…” her skin paled at the memory. Oh, in the moment it had felt </span>
  <b>
    <em>so good, </em>
  </b>
  <span>watching the man who called her </span>
  <em>
    <span>diseased </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>broken </span>
  </em>
  <span>perish by her own hand, but now the </span>
  <em>
    <span>slightest</span>
  </em>
  <span> tinge of </span>
  <b>
    <em>regret</em>
  </b>
  <span> crept over her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>good, </span>
  </em>
  <span>no?” he questioned, leaning forward and revelling in her discomfort. “I imagine it </span>
  <em>
    <span>must </span>
  </em>
  <span>have, given how the Time Lords abused you for their own ends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Disgust crashed over her and she pulled back, shaking her head vehemently. “No---no! Not anymore! Even if he deserv---”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stretched out a hand, cupped her cheek in his palm, and forced her to maintain eye contact while he nudged his way into her thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You’re with </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>me, </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>Koschei, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We can </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>always </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>be honest with one another----so </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>admit it. </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>You </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>liked </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>killing Rassilon---no, </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>not </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>liked---</span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>loved. </em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t hurt others anymore, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she replied, tearing her gaze away. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I just----we’re at the beach! Can’t we just focus on that? The </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>purple sky </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>and the </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>orange turtles </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>and the salt in the breeze…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You sound just. like. </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>me. </em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what sounds fun?” she asked, pulling back. “I would </span>
  <em>
    <span>love </span>
  </em>
  <span>to go dancing in this dress! I think there’s a pub down the way.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He crossed his arms and stared at the ocean. “Dunno. Not really one for </span>
  <em>
    <span>dancing.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She pouted, batted her eyelashes, and leaned forward, saying, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“pleeease! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Please please please please </span>
  <em>
    <span>pleeeease!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite himself, the Valeyard laughed. “Fine, then. One drink, one dance, then we part ways until Gallifrey decides they’ve had enough and decide to</span>
  <em>
    <span> put us right.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! This is </span>
  <em>
    <span>exciting!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>she exclaimed. “But first, I think </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>need to change out of that </span>
  <b>
    <em>horrid </em>
  </b>
  <span>ensemble! Honestly, Theta! Have you ever </span>
  <em>
    <span>once </span>
  </em>
  <span>cared how you look?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me, you mean---”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grinning, she pulled him back in the direction of her ship, saying, “that is </span>
  <em>
    <span>precisely </span>
  </em>
  <span>what I mean!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She dressed him in a tasteful, blue hawaiian shirt with matching slacks and a pair of dark sunglasses, and he frowned at himself in the mirror, unwilling to admit that he rather </span>
  <em>
    <span>liked </span>
  </em>
  <span>the look. The chinny incarnation would also have liked this look, wouldn’t they have? Flowers and glasses and a </span>
  <em>
    <span>pocket </span>
  </em>
  <span>in the front of the shirt, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bigger-on-the-inside </span>
  </em>
  <span>pocket which could contain an entire Wii gaming system! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook his head to dismiss that line of thought---old selves, old habits, old behaviors no longer had a place in his life, and he tried his hardest to put as much distance between himself and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>sillier </span>
  </em>
  <span>of his previous incarnations.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y’ look </span>
  <em>
    <span>handsome,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>she gushed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Maybe </span>
  </em>
  <span>y’ should let me dress y’ more often!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite himself, he smiled back at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe,” he admitted in a soft whisper.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>They walked to the bar hand-in-hand, his gaze hidden behind the dark sunglasses, and he flashed his wallet of psychic paper in place of ID, to which the bouncer simply waved them through. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m surprised you didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>hypnotize </span>
  </em>
  <span>them,” she teased. “Seeing as we’ve </span>
  <em>
    <span>switched places now, </span>
  </em>
  <span>I figured you </span>
  <em>
    <span>might</span>
  </em>
  <span> have adopted that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He laughed through his nose, shook his head, and said, “no, Kosch’. I’ve always been </span>
  <em>
    <span>rubbish </span>
  </em>
  <span>at it, no matter how many times I try. The psychic paper still works, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could </span>
  <em>
    <span>teach you, </span>
  </em>
  <span>if you’d like! I mean, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>has </span>
  </em>
  <span>been one of my trademarks for the past several millennia, no? And I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>still </span>
  </em>
  <span>rather good---”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, his laugh was fuller, more genuine, and he replied, “you’ve used it in this body of yours? Now </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>I would love to see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They ordered drinks from the bar, letting the tips of their pinkies touch on the wooden counter, and they chatted in a language only the two of them knew, trying to determine just </span>
  <em>
    <span>where </span>
  </em>
  <span>the both of them were----he spoke often of Gallifrey and the Time Lords while she remembered watching everything </span>
  <em>
    <span>burn </span>
  </em>
  <span>by her own hands, everything reduced to ash and a horrible, suffocating, orange haze----but ultimately, they decided it </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t matter </span>
  </em>
  <span>as long as they were alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the Valeyard, with something of a shy smile, who asked the Lumiat for a dance, and she accepted; they stood together, joining the bar’s other patrons in the center of the room as a waltz, slow and moving and something Missy had once played for the Doctor on her piano, sounded throughout the hall: it was a song for lovers with hands intertwined and eyes locked solely on one another, their feet and hearts moving together in time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking on, a former Time Agent could not help but smile. </span>
</p><p><em><span>Young love, </span></em><span>he thought, though he couldn’t be certain they </span><em><span>were </span></em><span>young, given his own immortality and the growing tendency among humans to augment their lifespans, with Liz X nearing her </span><em><span>nineteenth consecutive</span></em> <em><span>century</span></em><span> of rule. </span></p><p>
  <span>“You’ve been </span>
  <em>
    <span>watching </span>
  </em>
  <span>us,” the woman teased, tearing her gaze away from her partner. “It couldn’t be that, perhaps, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>recognize </span>
  </em>
  <span>us?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Flushed, Jack raised a hand and started to say, “No, I---sorry. Young love always gets me a bit teary-eyed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Valeyard let out a low, bellowing laugh, and said, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>young? </span>
  </em>
  <span>You’re still one for </span>
  <em>
    <span>flattery, </span>
  </em>
  <span>then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jack blinked and leaned back against the bar. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Still? </span>
  </em>
  <span>That means the three of us know each other then, yeah? Hm…” he made a show of rubbing his chin and regarding them both intently. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You…” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he pointed at the Lumiat, “are the Doctor? Which means </span>
  <em>
    <span>you…” </span>
  </em>
  <span>disgust crept onto his features as he regarded the Valeyard, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>must be the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Master?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>They both laughed horrible, wretched laughs, and Jack could only stare at them, not knowing what to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you heard of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Valeyard?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>the Time Lord formerly known as the Doctor asked. “Because that’s who </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>am, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>this…” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he broke one hand away from the Lumiat and gestured towards her, “well. We can’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>be on the same side, can we?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I---” Jack shook his head, turned around, and hastened out of the building, feeling eyes digging into his back as he went. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shame,” the Lumiat frowned. “I thought he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted </span>
  </em>
  <span>to meet the new us!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’ll come back around,” the Valeyard assured her. “He </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>does.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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